The present invention relates to improvements in apparatus for manipulating block-shaped commodities, especially at least partially wrapped block-shaped packets of cigarettes or other rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus for subjecting block-shaped commodities (hereinafter called packets for short) to a treatment which includes transferring packets from a first level to a second level, e.g., from a lower level to a higher level. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus wherein successive packets are brought to a halt in a preselected portion (such as the discharge end) of a path which is disposed or which at least terminates at the first level, and the thus arrested packets are thereupon transferred into successive receptacles of a conveyor which is caused to circulate (such as turn about a vertical axis) at the second level.
Apparatus of the above outlined character are disclosed in commonly owned European patent application Serial No. 0 756 995 A1. The conveyor of the apparatus which is disclosed in the European patent application is a turntable which is indexible about a vertical axis to thus move successive receptacles to a position of vertical alignment with successively supplied packets at the first level. The turntable forms part of a wrapping or packing unit in that it cooperates with suitable wrapping instrumentalities in order to carry out one or more wrapping or packing operations. Furthermore, the apparatus of the European patent application employs a confining device which is operative to hold freshly introduced packets in the respective receptacles of the turntable and, to this end, cooperates with a system of pushers serving to transfer packets from the first level into successive receptacles of the conveyor at the second level. The purpose of the confining device is to permit an increase of the output of the packing or wrapping machine in that it permits an indexing of the turntable at a very high frequency without risking ejection of packets from, or an undesirable shifting of packets in, their respective receptacles.
The turntable of the aforementioned (first) conveyor delivers partially wrapped packets into the range of a second conveyor, e.g., a second turntable, which also forms part of the wrapping means for the packets received from the first conveyor. Reference may be had to the commonly owned published German patent application Serial No. 197 03 069 A1 which discloses means for folding blanks around successive packets during transfer of packets from the receptacles of the first conveyor into the receptacles of the second conveyor. The blanks can constitute outer or outermost envelopes of the finished products (e.g., properly wrapped arrays of 20 plain or filter cigarettes each in a so-called quincunx formation).